[rubber]

I received a quote to paint my rear bumper and trunk lid from the dealer, and the price of the paint was about 1050 euros.

The labor for the prep and sanding was 350 euros, which seems cheap compared to the paint.

Is the price quoted for the paint comparable to the price in the States?

[mentos876]

in united states, everywhere you would go, body shops and dealers charge between $200-$350 for painting one element of the car. for example , here you would pay around $500-600 for painting two elements.

prices are including paint materials and labor

[rubber]

Just the paint alone was over 1,000 euros, and the labor was the additional 350 euros.

We was not kidding when he said BMW was expensive.

[Envious Eric]

I think I know why...here is my theory

dealership is trying to outsource, and make up for their payment to the other company, so they in turn charge you more...

I just talked to a gentleman the other day about this...whether he should take his car to the dealership for paint, or to a bodyshop. I told him bodyshop, then to me for the paint correction work to get it looking like it should!

[TOGWT]

Outsourcing includes say a 20-30% profit margin, invoiced to a dealership who adds say a 20-30% profit margin to his customers final invoice price ...

[rubber]

The subcontractor markup theory makes sense.

I am going to contact my insurance company and ask if they have an approved list of vendors.

Hopefully, I will get at least one estimate to compare to the dealership's quote.